The present inventor sought and seeks to provide a simple and inexpensive machine that the average person can use in his own kitchen to prepare neatly rolled hot tamales which may then be properly steamed or otherwise heated before eating. The hot tamale is, of course, the familiar hollow tube of cooked dough or masa filled with a spiced meat which is cooked or heated at the same time. Many persons who were not raised in the hot tamale making tradition lack the finger dexterity to roll these delicious food items by hand, and the present invention is particularly addrressed to them. It is not suggested as a machine for use in restaurants or in those commercial establishments where high speed, high volume production is necessary, but is suggested for those who live a less hectic life style and are willing to take the time to provide the best tasting foods.
Surprisingly, the present inventor was unable to locate any prior art teaching or suggesting a hot tamale making machine for the gourmet. There are many prior U.S. patents dealing with the making of hot tamales, but invariably they disclose equipment wherein continuous high production is the desiratum. See, for example, the 1972 patent to Brunner, 3,667,971, wherein flat, rectangular pieces of dough are loaded on an endless conveyor belt which then passes through rollers which raise both sides of the belt and thus give the piece of dough a U-shape, after which the meat filler is dropped into the bottom of the U-trough, and this is followed by steps which further manipulate the dough into a round shape. Similar such structure is disclosed in other U.S. Pat. Nos., including Cooper, 3,782,272; Pomara, 3,757,676; Quintana, 4,084,493; and Anmahian, 4,393,758.